#minimalising

I found two boxes of Swiss Chalet ribs, a teeny tiny steak, and a bag of meatballs; along with 3 bags of cranberries and so much bread and veggies and meats. So, I had ribs tonight with some mashed dill potatoes (with onion powder, butter and nooch as well), and I'm so looking forward to making real food in my CLEAN kitchen (once it's done on Sunday.)

So far today, I've hung up a bar above my stove,

with some lock hooks to hang my pots and utensils (saving space in my single drawer and on the counter). I hung two curtain rods in the window and put up my spring curtains (white lacy curtains with the silhouettes of birds on tree branches),

and dug out my white and gold mandala tapestry sheet to put up as a curtain to block the view of my bed from the front door. (That's going up tomorrow).

I got a steam-cleaner from my mama (she bought it off my wishlist and it was delivered this morning before I woke up!) so I'm gonna be cleaning some stuff with that this weekend :D

If your habit is to clear your throat, apologize a few times, minimize the quality of the work you’re about to share and in general, apologize for the assertions you’re about to make…

you probably realize that this is not an effective way to give a talk, lead a class or have a strategic discussion.

Consider carrying a coin in your pocket, one that’s large, or in a foreign currency.

Every time you…

I decided to change things up and share my process out here on the world wide web! Earlier this week I came across this 'minimalist wardrobe workbook' (which you can download here) and I decided to work through that book and combine it with the knowledge I already have about minimalising and reorganizing your wardrobe (i.e. Kon Mari Method and some other stuff I read on Pinterest). In this episode I won't actually be touching my wardrobe just yet, I will only be creating a plan on how to get started with all this.

So before we dive in, let's see our #why-power (credits to Pick-Up Limes for that one) by starting of with describing what my wardrobe situation is right now.

Part one - my wardrobe as it is

I have a closet with 6 very big drawers of which 5 are filled with clothing. And I want to start of by saying that 5 drawers of clothing seem fine to me. I don't really want to bring it down to 3 drawers or anything. So you might think 'but Jacintha why are you even going on this journey then?'. Well to answer that, the problem isn't really the amount of clothing it's the clothing on it's own. About half of what I own I almost never wear because it's cheap, or doesn't fit well at all. However if I throw out all those pieces there will be almost nothing left so I want to replace them with an item that I know I will love and wear often on many different occasions. And I know my wardrobe will probably never be finished since there are always things I feel like I need or whatever but right now I just feel very dissatisfied looking at all my clothes because the items that I actually adore just get smothered by all my bad decision making.

So no more of that!

Now that we have our why-power it's time to move on to the next part.

Part two - the five step plan

Before we get this going we need a plan and so using the workbook as an inspiration I came up with mine:

Define. First I need to figure out what I want my style to be like, edgy or cute etc. My clothes should represent the kind of person I am, and thanks to my fashion Pinterest board I won’t have to figure this out from scratch. I can just look at the things I saved and combine that with the clothes I already have and adore to define my style.

Declutter. The next step is to dive in my closet and divide everything into a keep and donate pile. Using my ideal style and thinking of whether or not an item fits within that image I should be able to decide on which pile an item should go.

Architect. Now that I’ve got my building blocks I should be able to create several outfits with the clothing that’s left. By creating about 3 outfits for several occasions I can see how well my clothes work together. If there is an item on the keep pile that I couldn’t very well integrate into an entire outfit I should throw that item on the donate pile as well. 

Arrange. Now that I’ve got my outfits it’s time to put it all back together in my closet. Using certain Kon Mari rules and other techniques I have found online I need to come up with a way of putting it all back together so that my clothes will feel comfortable and I will be able to see each item at a glance.

Complement. What is missing? What items do I need to finish all my outfits? When buying these items what should I look for and how do I make sure not to buy something that I won’t wear? I should make a list with about 10 items I still miss and then also a list of rules so that when I go shopping I won’t buy the wrong thing.

So basically as some of you know, I don’t have a bed frame and just use a mattress on the floor for a bed. Well now, I’m wanting to become more minimalist and I need extra space in my room for yoga...

so I’m going to use my 2 yoga mats + blankets as my bed!! 

It’s 1am and I’ve just spent 30mins cleaning and sorting out some stuff, needing to sort out the rest later on today but I cannot wait!

I really enjoyed adding this to my not buying any clothes challenge. Even when I did go shopping to buy something ‘not new’ such as antique shopping, I didn't end up buying anything (not being able to buy clothes severely impaired this as well). Overall I feel better for it. It has made me realise that money after all, is just another object. Material possessions don’t necessarily add to the richness of our life experiences. Representing our experiences with things seems like it’s the easy way out. Experiences can be turned into more meaningful objects such as memories, art, photography or letters. Material ‘things’ simply sit on a shelf as a memory of a purchase, meaningful representations evoke emotions and cause us to reflect on why that moment in our lives shaped us into who we are today.

I only bought 2 things that were new this month and they will forever hold special significance to me. The first was the program from when I went to see Mary Poppins the Musical. It was a great show and the program is not the sort of thing I could simply go back and get when the month was over. I love seeing professional and amateur theatre and I get programs to remind me of the wonderful experience that I had. The second was a witch’s hat for a costume. A few weeks ago my friend Rachel and I performed a duet together for a showcase. We sang 'For Good' from Wicked, hence needing the hat for Elphaba. We had been working on it for months and finally getting to perform it was a dream come true. I bought the hat home with me (Rachel, if you are wondering where it went), and it is currently in my dress up box. I don’t know if I will ever need it again, but it will always remind me of one of my greatest triumphs (if you would like to see out performance, you can watch it here).

Even though these things I bought hold significance to me, I know that if I had to I could let them go. They are special reminders, but they cannot replace the awe I felt seeing Scarlet Strallen on the stage at the Capitol Theatre. Or that intoxicating moment of freedom I found singing my heart out on that stage in front of people I love. And it couldn’t possibly replace the friendship I gained by singing with Rachel.

So in the end I guess it’s just about being smart about what we buy, new or not. If it’s new think about its origins, is it the product of a corporation treats it’s workers like slaves? Did millions of hectares of rainforest need to be cleared just so I could buy a silicone spatula? Even if it’s old, second hand or even free, thinking to yourself ‘Do I really need this?’ In these conscious decision I believe we have be smarter about what we have and our choices will be more fulfilling.

If you would like to join in next year or learn more there are links in my last post. Or just head to their website: http://www.buynothingnew.com.au/.

Today is the beginning of Buy Nothing New Month! I am really excited about this and I hope you can all get involved. Basically I will be extending my ‘not buying any clothes’ to ‘not buying and new things’ for this month. You still buy your necessities like food, phone credit and petrol. Just not any of those extras like music, dvd's, clothes or any other 'things'. Here’s a quote from their mission statement:

It’s about taking October to reassess what we really need, think about where the stuff we buy comes from (finite resources), where it goes (landfill), and what our alternatives are.

It is about conscientious consumption and by not spending on stuff we don’t need, increasing our savings for the things we do need.

Do you think you can do it? On their website you can:

Pledge to supporting the cause

Find out more about Affluenza

Find some great ideas on how to get started

Like them on FaceBook, follow on Twitter or YouTube

Best of all you can win $5000 for sharing anything about buying less (click for details). I will be submitting this blog as an entry. Are you up for the challenge? One month, that’s all. And if you start late, don’t worry! You can still sign up and learn a hell of a lot along the way.

Zoe x